Destin or Houston?

This is Destin's strength. Fine white quartz sand and clear green water line the shore from Okaloosa Island and Henderson Beach State Park to Miramar Beach. On the bay side, the Crab Island sandbar has shallow water for wading. Just watch the flags, because rip currents are a real danger on rough days.

Houston has no beach of its own. Galveston, an hour's drive away, has long stretches of sand and water just as warm in summer, but the water is cloudy with river sediment and seaweed sometimes piles up. Only Destin is worth planning a trip around the beach.

Houston is one of the great American places to eat, and Destin is a seafood town. In Destin the pleasure is Gulf fish straight off the charter boats, such as grouper sandwiches and royal red shrimp on a harbour deck. Chains fill much of the coast highway, and the more ambitious kitchens are out along 30A.

Houston has Gulf oysters and redfish too, but adds Tex-Mex, brisket, Vietnamese-Cajun crawfish and the Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean kitchens of Bellaire Boulevard. There are also chef-led restaurants in Montrose and the Heights, so you could eat somewhere different every meal for a week.

Destin offers very little here. There is a small museum of the town's fishing history, and in neighbouring Fort Walton Beach a prehistoric temple mound and an outdoor park of military aircraft.

Houston can fill several days, from the Museum of Fine Arts and the natural science museum to the Menil's quiet galleries and mission control at Space Center Houston. Neither city has much historic architecture, so in Houston too you will spend your time in museums rather than old streets.

Houston has more choice and it lasts all year. There are gay bars and relaxed neighbourhood drinking in Montrose, lounges on Washington Avenue and in Midtown, and open-sided icehouse patios across town, though getting between them usually means a ride.

Destin's evenings centre on the harbour boardwalk and the beach bars of Okaloosa Island, and some of the liveliest drinking happens in the afternoon, when boats tie up together at Crab Island. Outside summer and spring break, most nights end early.

Destin's outdoors is mostly on the water. Deep-sea charters reach big fish quickly, dolphins swim in the pass, and Choctawhatchee Bay is calm enough for paddleboarding and kayaking. To the east, the white dunes and rare coastal dune lakes of the state parks have boardwalks and bike paths.

Houston sits in flat prairie and bayou country. Buffalo Bayou and Memorial Park are good for a run or a paddle, Brazos Bend has alligators, and spring brings migrating birds to the coast near Galveston. In summer, the heat in both places limits anything strenuous to early morning.

Neither city has a long list of outings, but Destin's are slightly easier. The planned pastel towns of Seaside, Rosemary Beach and Alys Beach on 30A are forty minutes east. Pensacola's colonial district, naval aviation museum and brick forts are an hour west.

From Houston, the main outing is Galveston, whose Strand district and Victorian East End make it more than a beach. You can also visit the San Jacinto battlefield or the spring wildflower country around Brenham and Round Top. Austin and San Antonio are better kept for an overnight stay.

Both work for children, but Destin is the easier family trip. Gentle water on calm days, condos with kitchens and pools, a marine park with dolphin shows, a water park and pirate-ship cruises all keep a beach week simple.

Houston's draw is Space Center Houston, with the zoo, the Children's Museum and the dinosaur hall around Hermann Park, so it suits children who like museums. Both mean a lot of driving, and in both the summer heat pushes outdoor plans to the morning.

You'll need a car in both, but the trouble is different in each. Destin is spread along one coastal highway that jams in summer and has few safe crossings for walkers, though the harbour boardwalk and the 30A bike trail help. Houston is a sprawl of freeways with one useful light-rail line through downtown, Midtown and the Museum District, and its districts are much further apart.

Houston is the better place to shop. Uptown's huge mall has the luxury brands and draws shoppers from across Latin America, River Oaks has upmarket boutiques on open-air streets, and the Heights and Rice Village add vintage and independent shops. Western boots and hats are the local speciality.

Destin's shopping is mostly a big outlet centre near Miramar Beach, a mall of chain stores and swimwear on the beach strips. The 30A towns have the more stylish boutiques and galleries.

Houston costs less. Hotels are plentiful and reasonably priced outside convention weeks, taquerias, barbecue and Asiatown noodle shops cost little, and several major museums are free. Car hire and parking still add up.

In summer, Destin charges resort-coast rates for beachfront rooms and waterfront meals, and you pay the same car costs on top. It gets much cheaper from late autumn to early spring, but by then the sea is too cold to swim.

Houston is far ahead. Its downtown Theater District has the Houston Grand Opera and Houston Ballet at the Wortham Center, the symphony at Jones Hall and the long-established Alley Theatre. In summer there are free shows at Miller Outdoor Theatre, and blues, zydeco and Houston hip-hop play in smaller venues.

Destin's live music is mostly cover bands on bar decks. The regional symphony plays across the bay in Niceville, and the 30A towns hold concerts on their lawns in summer.

Neither has a bathing tradition, and for pampering both rely on resort and hotel spas. Destin is the more restful of the two, with early walks on empty sand and long afternoons on a balcony, best in spring and autumn before summer traffic takes over.

In Houston the calm comes in short breaks between long drives on the freeways: an hour in the Rothko Chapel, an early walk under the oaks in Hermann Park, or a visit to a Korean-style bathhouse in the suburbs.